He was having a bit of fun with us, but John went on blandly, “Oh, yes, that motor always heats up.”
The Black Mask laughed aloud, and John grinned and shrugged his shoulders. “As a matter of fact,” he acknowledged a little sheepishly, “I was driving fast. I like to drive fast. That’s why we drive at night. It’s the only time to be sure of having a clear road.”
The Black Mask laughed again. “That is such a good answer,” he said, gently, “that I shall ’ave to remember it for some time when I may be asked such a question. ’owever, I am in great need of information at the moment, so that even my appreciation of your ingenuity must not interfere with it. Either you were running away from something, or seeking something. Now, gentlemen, which was it?”
We were both silent, each hoping the other would think of something to say. Neither of us did.
“Really not such a difficult question,” the Black Ghost went on, smoothly. “You might ’ave been following something, but there was nothing on the road a’ead of you. Ah, I see, you thought you were following something.” He had been looking directly at John, and even I saw John’s surprise, though he tried to hide it. “So. But if anyone was following you we shall soon know it. The barricade was replaced ten minutes after you were—shall we say—deflected?”
It had been down ten minutes, though. If Helena had been travelling at nearly our pace she had got through. Thanks to us, then, for she had not been ahead of us—if she had been going to Herrovosca at all, and I believed she had. I began thinking how lucky we had been for her, when the telephone on the Black Ghost’s desk rang sharply. He made us a slight bow of apology as he picked up the instrument. It seemed a strangely out of place thing for a bandit in a fancy dress costume to answer a telephone like a New York business man, yet he did it quite as naturally. The government customs office had no telephone, but a mountain bandit did. A bandit, of course, would find it necessary to be more efficient than Bela’s government would bother to be. Not for more than half a minute did the Black Ghost listen. Then he said something hard and sharp into the mouthpiece, hung it back on its stand, and sat silent for a moment. When he turned back to us his manner had changed.
“So,” he said, “you were leading the way. Clever. But it did not prove a good plan because the other car lagged just a little too far be’ind. I was quite deceived in you. I cannot imagine where her Majesty finds so many ad’erents. She is a remarkably resourceful woman. You will per’aps answer a few questions truthfully, because I shall find the answers anyway. Are your passports real or are they falsified? I ask because it seems so remarkable that two men of your apparent standing should be willing to interfere in a matter that may so easily become very unpleasant for you.”
“Our passports are quite in order,” I answered, “except for the slight discrepancy of the Rheatian border stamp.”
“Most remarkable,” was his comment. “May I enquire why you were willing to do such a risky thing?”
“The gate was open,” John answered, “and I was in a hurry. I really drove through without thinking.”